Time, Space, Distance...Part Two

I have made it to the top of the mountain. Sorry, no pictures from the ride up the mountain, I was busy! As I chose to push it once again Goodyear Eagle GT+II's vocally give me warning that if I continue to ask of them what I am, immutable laws of physics will come into play shortly! There are no job deadlines, mortgages, or other such things that burden all of us during this exercise. It all bleeds away as it is all about you, the machine, that moment in time, and the road ahead. It commands your full attention just like shooting. And for a brief moment I am alive again in the moment.  And young! Virginia awaits:

Before I go to my Aunt's house, I choose a detour to Independence, VA. I want to see the place where my grandparents are interred. Here is a picture of my Grandfather. Adults called him Ace, the grandkids called him Paw-Paw. He is on the right in this picture:

I do not know the gentleman on the left, but perhaps a family member will know after seeing this post.

Now the matriarch of the family.

This is the front porch of the house. Notice that with kids running around, no one went to Wal-Mart to pick up the plastic expandable gate. They built something. This woman was always loaded with Dental Rose snuff in the lip and said every time you visited that she had nothing cooked, but always seemed to whip out pintos, corn bread, slaw, sausage, and the best homemade biscuits EVER! She would even whip out deer and traditional sausage. She was called "Granny" by the grandkids and "Minnie" by the adults.

Many life events took place here. Here are one of my Uncle and Aunt's on the same front yard:

My parents were married here:

Pop is on the right!


But back to the here and now. I visit the graveside in Independence:

Decoration Day is on Father's Day here, but it looks like my Aunts have already taken care of this task. Friends from nearby Sparta, NC will be here tomorrow as well and make any adjustments if needed for this day.

The view from the site is extremely serene and peaceful. If I choose to be traditionally interred I can only hope to be somewhere as beautiful as this:

I am now late for the reunion and although sometimes losing cell phone service is a wonderful thing and as you can imagine cell phone coverage is dicey at best here. I need to get going. Although I just turned 48, my parents will be parents after all and become concerned shortly.

I head back out after leaving a 20 dollar donation for the Cemetery upkeep. A WWII veteran and his two sons are attending the grave of the wife and mother to them as I leave. I thank him for his service and after I explain why I am there all is well between all of us. We are all paying respects.

Now to Fries. The chariot awaits:

The Magnum Opus continues! I feel this warrants a part three!